Inking roller manufacture



Patented Jan. 23, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE No Drawing". Application April. 1, 1948,

Serial No. 18,490"

6' Claims; (01. 117-46)" 1: Inking; rollers as used in printing and graining havelong. been made of glue modified by glycerin or molasses or the like-acting agent. and such.

glue-basebody has been. regarded asvery satisfactory with respect to itsresiliency and followup. The rather soft gel consistency of the glue body provides enough give and resilience to satisfactorily operate ontype and plate surfaces, even. thoughof considerable: irregularity andcomplexity. However, the glue-base. roller has the veryserious drawbacks of bein highly susceptible to atmospheric. changes, andto the action of dryirig; oils and solvents common in ink compositions. Various substitutes havebeen proposed from time. te time and particularly rubber. and. vulcanized oiLcompos-itions have been tried, but these have had; the objection of being too difierent. in their body consistency to. give general satisiactiom and besides, such materials. are susceptible to the action. of oilsand solvents ininksthe presentrinvention, now becomes possible. to realize the excellent body properties; of the glue-base material, and at the sameti me obviate its-disadvantages. above-indicated; Thus, an

carrier or roller may be had with theresilience and body characteristicsof'glue+base.materiaL but with immunity to. change. from atmospheric variations and. with. resistance against detrimental action of" ink oilsandl solvents. Other objects and advantages off the. invention will appear. from the. following description.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises" the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the followin description setting forth indetail: certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principle oftheinventionmay be employedi A glue-base material is made up into roller torm or'im fact any glue-base roller maybe-taken as: the starting point for the present invention. well-known, a common composition glue abouitonea part and glycerin. ormolasses about three parts,. and such composition, liquefied on aiwat'erbathi and brought to uniformity is cast in rollefformz on a metal mandrel.z or shaft. Such a. roller is here finished by providing a surface or outside'i layer having; unique properties; For this, a synthetic. resin reactionzpro-duct of olefinic halides and alkali sulphide, generally known as polyalkylene or a polysulphide synthetic resin is made up with a plasticizer or extender, and an agent reactive on the synthetic resin and on glue.

. 2 The polysulphide resins are described in chemical literature, andlfor. ih'stancein Fiesers. Organic Chemistry (-pub. by D. C; Heath. & Co.,v Boston, 1944)., page 34 2, and a commercially available resin of this. order sold under the name Thiokol is. satisfactory for the purpose. The extender is a high boiling, miscible agent which is liquid at temperatures between about and. 212 and a phthalat'e.ester', e. g; dibut'yl phthalatexis illust'r'at'ive. Other esters or phthalates or other agents with like properties may be employed, e. g. dioctylv phtha'la'te, dihexyl' phthalate, tricresyl phosphate, etc- The'amount'of. the phthalate or the like may be about 10-35: per cent, and usually about. 25 percent byweight. The proportioning, is in general such. as to give a modifled resin with similar body properties as the glue base. This makes possible" the temporary defermatiori off the g'luebase roller in service without disruption of the-thinresin facing which is applied; With the resin mixture as. just noted; there is incorporated also an agent reactive on both the resin and the glue; This toughens or cures the resin and bonds it mutually withthe glue roller to which it is applied as'a facing. The reactive agent may be an aldehyde, preferably furfural', although others which are miscible, as benzaldehyd'e, hexam'ethylenetetramin'e, etc. may be" employed; The amou't" of the furfural or the likeis in general about 10-32 percent, and desirablyaround' 20 per cent. If too small an amount is employed, the resin is not sufficiently toughened or is lackingihidesired. resistance.- If too much is employed", the: material tends to be lacking in desired elasticity. With the aldehyde or the like an acid reaction or medium is supplied, and this requires a weak or'dilute acid. Desirably, formic acid in amount of 5th l5-percent is satisfactory; preferably 10 per. cent based on the amountof the'aldehyde. Correspondingly; other acids'which are miscible, as salicylic'acid, furoic acid, etc. may be used. It is noticed, as a particular feature here, that the. synthetic resinwhich is to form the actual} surface of the roller, enclosing the glue body, as a polysulphide contains sulphur, which is also reactive on; glue; and in addition, it is provided with furfural. or the like which is again rea'ctive'upon the resin and the glue. Thus, when the resincomposition is brought into contact with the" glue surface; under proper conditions, there is, sufficient interaction to bond the resin substantially integrally to the'g'lue-base body. While the synthetic resin as a sheet, or preferably a thin film, may in some cases be assembled with the glue-base body, as by casting the latter thereagainst, it is better in practice to apply the synthetic resin as a liquid to the pre-formed gluebase body. For this, the polysulphide resin composition including the furfural or the like and weak acid, is brought to uniform liquid condition at a temperature within the range of 100 to about 200 F., and desirably, for instance, at around 160 F., and thematerial is applied to the gluebase roller in any convenient manner, depending upon the size of the roller, etc. And the present composition may be applied by, for instance, a traveling spout or feeder on the roller as rotated, or the roller may be rotated in partial immersion or may be dipped; and a final rotation apart from the applier serves to distribute the material in a uniform film coat. Preferably, the? resin surfacing may be quite thin, for instance 0001-0005 in.,

although of course in conditions Where a thick surface of the resin is desired, a thicker layer may be employed. In general, the control of the thickness of such applied material may be controlled as desired by variation in the amount of the phthalate or other extender, and also by variation in the temperature at which the resin composition is applied. coated surface may have a gas flame passed over it. This flash heating thus momentarily applied accelerates the curing and insures smoothness. The resin surface cools and sets quickly, and. the aldehyde or curing agent tough-ens it thence at ordinary temperature, so that such rollers may be ready for use in twenty-four hours.

An important feature of the present construc: tion is the action of an agent in common on both the synthetic resin layer and the glue-base body. Instead of separable resin and glue body, the construction provides a substantially integral material, body and surface, and the surface layer cannot be stripped from the body. If tearing be induced, the rupture goes in the glue body instead of between the synthetic resin surface and the glue. It is thus seen that such roller construction, with its glue-base body, preserves all of the desirable resilience and softness of the conventional glue-base roller, but now guarded and sealed over against detriment from atmospheric change and ink-ingredients. Such facing on the roller is sufficiently uniform with the body properties of the roller to maintain the true glue body characteristics, but the synthetic resin surface is impervious to atmospheric moisture and is also resistant to the other ingredients common in printing and graining inks which cause cracking and damage to glue rollers. Furthermore, this synthetic resin surface takes and carries inks with the same efficiency as a glue-base surface, but at the same time it very substantially excels a gluebase surface in its resistance to wear. Such an inking roller thus has a service life materially greater than obtainable with the customary rollers. i 1

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the detail described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent of such, be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. The method of forming an inking roller which comprises mixing a polyalkylene polysulphide synthetic resin with an extender selected Where desired, the freshly from the group consisting of dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, dihexyl phthalate and tricresyl phosphate; a miscible aldehyde reactive With the resin; and a weak acid selected from the group consisting of formic acid, salicylic acid, and furoic acid; the aldehyde being present in the amount of between about 10% and about 32%, liquefying the mixture by warming the same to a temperature within the range of about 100 F. to about 200 F., applying a layer of such liquid mixture to a glue-base roller, and finally curing the resin and bonding the same to said glue base roller.

2. The method of forming an inking roller which comprises mixing a polyalkylene polysulphide synthetic resin with an extender selected from the group consistin of dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, dihexyl phthalate and tricresyl phosphate; furfural; and a weak acid selected from the group consisting of formic acid, salicylic acid, and furoic acid; the furfural being present in the amount of between about 10% and about 32%, liquefying the mixture by warming the same to a temperature within the range of about 100 F. to about 200 F., applying a layer of such liquid mixture to a gluebase roller, and finally curing the resin and bonding the same to said glue-base roller.

3. The method of forming an inking roller which comprises mixing a polyalkylene polysulphide synthetic resin with an extender selected from the group consistin of dibutyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, dihexyl phthalate and tricresyl phosphate; a miscible aldehyde reactive with the resin; and a weak acid selected from the group consisting of formic acid, salicylic acid, and furoic acid; the aldehyde being present in the amount of between about 10% and about 32%, liquefying the mixture by warming the same to a temperature within the range of about F. to about 200 F., applying a layer of such liquid mixture to a glue-base roller, and finally surface-fusing and evening the synthetic resin by rapidly passing a flame thereover.

4. A glue-base roller surfaced with a polyalkyl ene polysulphidesynthetic resin layer formed by the process of claim 1. p

5. A glue-base roller surfaced with a polyalkylene polysulphide synthetic resin layer formed by the process of claim 2.

6. A glue-base roller surfaced with a polyalkylene polysulphide synthetic resin layer foflned by the process of claim 3.

EDWARD D. HILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

1. THE METHOD OF FORMING AN INKING ROLLER WHICH COMPRISES MIXING A POLYALKYLENE POLYSULPHIDE SYNTHETIC RESIN WITH AN EXTENDER SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF DIBUTYL PHTHALATE, DIOCTYL PHTHALATE, DIHEXYL PHTHALATE AND TRICRESYL PHOSPHATE; A MISCIBLE ALDEHYDE REACTIVE WITH THE RESIN; AND A WEAK ACID SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF FORMIC ACID, SALICYLIC ACID, AND FUROIC ACID; THE ALDEHYDE BEING PRESENT IN THE AMOUNT OF BETWEEN ABOUT 10% AND ABOUT 32%, LIQUEFYING THE MIXTURE BY WARMING THE SAME TO A TEMPERATURE WITHIN THE RANGE OF ABOUT 100* F. TO ABOUT 200* F., APPLYING A LAYER OF SUCH LIQUID MIXTURE TO A GLUE-BASE ROLLER, AND FINALLY CURING THE RESIN AND BONDING THE SAME TO SAID GLUE BASE ROLLER. 